Originally Posted by
Dchiefransom
The problem is not funding or infrastructure. When a driver hits a pedestrian in a crosswalk, and the pedestrian started while the white "WALK" signal was on, and the police do not take the driver away to jail in handcuffs to stand before a judge, THAT is the problem. If I fire a rifle into the air at midnight on December 31, and the bullet doesn't hit anything, I've committed a crime. If I run over someone with my Jeep and send them to the hospital, when I was supposed to yield them right of way, I get a civil ticket with a fine.
First, firing a rifle in the air is not illegal in many places in the US.
And should the driver in your hypothetical be jailed if the contact is a bare touch? They still failed to yield right-of-way...
But the real problem is that the police are rarely in a position to determine whom was at fault. That is why most such investigations are handled by detectives at some point in the future. And even then establishing guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is not an easy task. Perhaps you think we should simple execute any driver involved in a crash with a cyclist or pedestrian without regard to little details such as who can be proven to be at fault?